Images(2)

Square piano

Dateca. 1795

Artist/Maker George Dettmar

MediumMahogany: case (solid), lid (solid), hoppers, hammer shanks, hammer rail (top), damper levers, action brackets, sharps (black stained and topped with fruitwood), portion of tuning pin block above soundboard, soundboard fretwork, Satinwood: perimeter banding around case sides and lid; nameboard veneer; Limewood: key levers; Spruce: soundboard; Softwoods: dust board (originally covered with green silk); nameboard substrate; keyboard back rail; bottom; Oak: key-frame front and balance rails; Fruitwood: plain key fronts, sharp tops (stained, veneer only); Iron: hand-stop lever; Brass: hand-stop knob, hinges; Ivory: natural key tops; Leather and Vellum: hammer hinges, hammer-head covering, sticker pads on key levers; hopper-jack tops; front-rail pads under sharps; Baleen: damper lever springs ??========== Mahogany; satinwood; oak; ivory; ebonized wood; metal & cloth.

DimensionsNet dimensions exclude lid, stand and projecting moldings. All dimensions in mm except where noted. Length: 1,636 mm (net 1,617 mm); Width: 595 mm (net 587 mm); Height: 845 mm (net 226 mm)

Credit LineGift of Ms. Catherine B. Hollan

Object number1997-228,A

DescriptionCASE DECORATION: The case is veneered with mahogany with composite string banding and white banding between the string banding and edges. The case bottom has a plain mahogany molding surmounted by a black/white line string. The left end of the case has a hook for fastening the lid. The right rear corner of the soundboard area is an elaborate fretwork with a section now missing. No cloth was observed below the fretwork.
KEYWELL: The keywell is veneered with satinwood(?), with an inscription inlay of a plain white wood surrounded by ebony(?) stringing. Flanking the inscription inlay are marquetry decorations consisting of meandering leaves and flowers. There are no nameboard vents. A string band of a different design from that of the case surrounds the keywell with diagonal rosewood crossbanding.
LID: The lid has three sections: the main section, a long flap over the keyboard, and a short flap over the front part of the soundboard. There is no lid molding. The lockboard is hinged to the lid to form a music desk; there is evidence of a music rest molding that is now missing. The keyhole has a plain brass surround set in. The lid has mahogany veneer with white banding as on the case but with two bands of stringing (the inner band a little narrower than the outer band). A lid stick is screwed to the inside of the left case rim but there is not one on the right.
STAND AND PEDALS: A pedal was added at some time. There is a hole in the bottom for a rod and evidence in the stand of a bracket to hold the pedal column. The French frame stand has filled notches in the legs probably indicating a lost music shelf that was a little higher than usual. The legs and aprons are veneered with mahogany with white wood perimeter banding. (On the legs, the banding grain runs vertically.) A thin black/white string inlay runs between the mahogany and banding. The legs have brass casters with square caster cups. Holes exist for the attachment of bolt covers, but the brasses are now missing.
INTERNAL NOTES: A dust board extends the entire width of the piano. It is undecorated bare wood of a design typically covered in green silk. Green stains on the board indicate green silk was probably once present.
COMPASS: FF–c4
OCTAVES: 5 oct. + 7 notes
STOPS: There is one hand stop for dampers.
Inscribed"George Dettmar London / Patent Action Piano Forte Manufacturer" in ink on nameboard
Markings"C Norman / Little Bentley / Essex / 1837" scratched into underside of dust board
ProvenancePurchased by James Hollan of Annapolis, MD; given to CWF by Catherine Hollan in 1997

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The instrument was purchased by the present owner at an estate sale on Foxhall road in Georgetown section of Washington, DC, in the 1970s. The former owner's name and any earlier history of the piano are unknown.

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